Pakistani court rejects ex-Premier Khan's bail plea in state secret case

ISLAMABAD

A Pakistani court on Friday rejected former Prime Minister Imran Khan's bail plea in the state secret case, his lawyer said.

Khan is incarcerated in Adiala jail Rawalpindi near the capital Islamabad in the "cipher case" – a case that accused him of exposing state secrets.

"We will challenge the today verdict in Supreme Court of Pakistan," Naeem Haider Panjutha, Khan's spokesman for legal affairs and a lawyer, said on X.

Earlier, Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq announced the verdict, which was reserved on Oct. 16, rejecting Khan's plea seeking post-arrest bail and the quashing of the cipher case.

The case is related to diplomatic communications between Washington and Islamabad, which Khan says was part of a US conspiracy to topple his government.

On Monday, a special court indicted Khan and former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the case, while both have pleaded not guilty.

Khan is accused of exposing an official secret when he waved a confidential diplomatic letter at a rally last year.

The cricketer-turned-politician, who is facing a string of cases, was ousted through a no-trust vote in April 2022.

Dozens of Khan's supporters and party workers are in jail. They were arrested after violent protests broke out in major cities and towns across the country over Khan’s arrest on May 9.